1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reagents generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to novel precious reagent container and method of use.
2. Background Art
In the field of drug discovery and genomic research, there is a need to work with small aliquots of precious reagents. A problem arises when it is necessary to work with them in high throughput applications. To meet the throughput desired in this area of work, the microplate is the de facto standard in either 96 well format or 384 well format. The 96 well format consists of wells in an 8×12 matrix on 9 mm spacing. The 384 well format is a 16×24 matrix on 4.5 mm spacing. The newest configuration to consume reagents is the 1536 well format of a 32×48 matrix on 2.5 mm spacing.
The size of the precious liquid aliquot to be transferred is normally in the range of 0.5 to 5 microliters. This is easily accomplished with the multiple well pipettors that are available. A problem arises, however, in trying to fill the multiple pipettor tips. Normally, a reservoir is used to permit multiple well pipettors to aspirate aliquots simultaneously for dispensing. Assume 5 μL of reagent A is to be aspirated and dispensed to all wells of a 384 well microplate. This requires 1920 μL or 1.92 mL total volume. The wells of the pipettor are spread over an area of 72×108 mm or 7776 mm2. That equates to 4 μL for every square millimeter of the reservoir bottom. Surface tension alone prohibits that small a volume from uniformly covering that area.
The solution most commonly used is to have individual small grooves or channels defined in the bottom of the reservoir. Then, instead of trying to cover the entire area, it is only necessary to have enough reagents to fill the channels to a suitable depth to aspirate the required volume. Another approach is to have small dimples located under each aspirating well. Theoretically, the dimples could hold the volume desired for each aspirating well. The problem reverts to how is each dimple filled. If done individually, the advantage of multiple well pipetting is lost. To fill all dimples essentially simultaneously, a small volume may be placed in the reservoir and the reservoir is then shaken or vibrated to cause liquid motion to fill the dimples.
In all cases, there is a dead volume that cannot be aspirated with the multiple well pipettor. There is a loss when this dead volume is returned to the source or storage container. This loss and the need for extra reagent to fill the dead volume inhibit the use of multiple well pipettors.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a container that can be used as both a storage unit and a reservoir for multiple well pipetting, with essentially no dead volume as described above.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a container that can be stored at temperatures of −20° C. to −80° C.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide such a container that can be easily filled.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a container that can be easily manufactured using conventional techniques.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a method of using such a container.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.